The Storm
by J S Arnold
Summary: When there is a sotrm, Damon uses the opportunity to visit Elena while no one can hear her scream.


AR one-shot

I do not own the Vampire Diaries.

**The Storm**

It was dark and she squinted her eyes to see the path in front of her. She had never thought that it could get so dark so quickly, and she was not sure exactly where she was going. Elena knew she walked near a road, because there was the sound of cars splashing in puddles and of talking in the distance.

She hadn't thought to bring any gloves and her hands were freezing cold and shaking. The coat she wrapped around her body had been too thick that morning, when the sun shone golden in the sky, but now she felt exposed.

She kept thinking that she heard footsteps on the path behind her, sounding too close to her back, but she never turned quickly enough to see what it was. Now that she knew about vampires, she wondered what else lurked in the dark.

She couldn't breathe as she searched the darkness for any sign of life, as if she were anticipating that something would jump out at her from behind a tree. It was as if some dark ghoul had reached into her chest and squeezed her heart until it stopped beating. She felt light headed and afraid.

A hand gripped her shoulder and squeezed slightly. Her heart rose to her throat as she froze on the path outside her house. She didn't dare turn around, less she find it was Damon and he had a plan formulated against her.

"Don't worry Elena," he said, "I'll be your guide."

Her teeth were chattering and she could barely breathe. It was hard to think about Damon without feeling her heart slam into her chest. She gave a small gasp, but he heard it anyway.

It was strange how he confirmed his identity. He squeezed her hand and her fears were erased. She knew it was Stephen, she could recognise the gentle strength in his fingers, feel the affection in which their touched. Her heart slowed in relief – she had been so scared.

He took her to her front door and hugged her close to his body. She felt so tiny in his arms, so fragile, that he knew that she needed to be protected. He would keep her safe, he would try to be there always, so she would never become like Katherine. She had become a monster like his brother, like him, but this girl was Elena. She was nothing like her double. "I wish I could be with you always." he whispered in her ear.

"I know." she said, pressing her lips against his. She wanted nothing more than to be with him.

The storm brewing outside had already broken trees further down her road, and she wondered if the one outside her bedroom window would break too. She could hear it groan as the wind hit it at fifty miles an hour, as if it were struggling to keep it's roots solidly in the ground. If it fell onto her window the glass would shatter in every direction, and with every gust of wind she sat more tense on the bed.

Stephen had left just a couple of minutes before, promising that he would return soon, but shards of wood flew in the air like stakes – who is to say that they are not just as deadly as stakes? She tried to block the images of him being impaled but it was hard when she had little else to think about. He had lived for so long, it seemed almost silly that he would not make it through the night.

She lifted her diary to her folded knees. She opened it and the words scrawled in dark black brought the emotions she'd been trying to repress. She saw tear stains on the page and she traced them with her finger. She didn't want to cry again; her eyes were already sore from all the tears, the pain, from earlier that evening, and she still felt like crying now.

Elena closed the book and threw it across her room. This storm had really struck a raw nerve; a drizzle she would not mind, but a full fledged storm? It reminded her too much of her parents death to ever sit well with her.

She looked up just as another bolt of lightening lit the world outside, but she gasped not at the amazing show of light. She gasped at the dark silhouette standing just outside her window. She saw him smile brilliantly, flashing his pearly white teeth like a shark. She screamed as he placed a strong hand on the handle – would he, surly he wouldn't really, corner and attack her in her own room?

The explosion of sound as he opened the window to let himself in deafened her. It sounded and felt like a bomb had just exploded outside her house, the sound vibrating the air around her, and she cupped her hands over her ears. He did not close it once he was inside, and she would not dare near him in order to close it herself. Surly someone in the house would wonder at the noise, but maybe this might be all part of his plan. No one would hear him speaking... no one would hear her scream...

"W-w-what are you doing here Damon?" she stammered, feeling all the blood drain from her face. She wanted to run screaming, but something predatory in his dark eyes kept her from doing anything but sit. She sat cross-legged and the skin on her knees prickled with awareness, as if prompting her to run while she still had even the slimmest of chances.

"I thought I would take the opportunity... while no one can hear you scream..." he told her, but not before another bolt of lightening ripped open the sky. _While no one can hear her scream_...

"Damon -" she started, but before she could take another breath he had disappeared. The lights had died and the moon, big and round in the sky, shed the only light. The storm had not lost any of it's strength and seemed to be focused on her house.

Without considering it too long, she did the only thing that seemed natural. She let her instincts dictate her next move. She ran for her bedroom door – praying that she would be able to escape the malevolent Vampire even just this once,

He allowed her to open the door – just to see if she _would_ – but not anything more. After slamming the door closed, he pinned her to the door with his body and smiled. He kissed her neck slowly, contradicting the sound all around them, which was as loud and fierce as any monster. Any monster but the seductive vampire.

"_Relax_," he told her slowly, his lips forming the word so perfectly, and she almost did. Her vervain necklace laid on her bed-side table and without it she felt almost naked. Without it, she knew, she was defenceless.

"There's no need to worry about _that_," he told her, gesturing in it's general direction, "no need to worry about _me_."

He wasn't dangerous, she thought dreamily, there really was not any reason to fear him or worry. He would not hurt her...

She didn't even flinch as he bit her.


End file.
